New York Mets fans have felt just about every emotion watching this team.
What started out as a World Series contender, became a playoff team, and now the Mets are clinging on to a one-and-a-half game lead over the Cincinnati Reds for the final National League Wild Card spot.
New York has lost eight of their last 10 games and now begin a three-game series with the team they are chasing for the second NL Wild Card spot, the San Diego Padres.
San Diego has had problems of their own but comfortably sit five games ahead of New York. One of those problems has been starting pitching, one of New York’s biggest failures.
ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle named the biggest success and failure for all 30 Major League Baseball teams, with the Mets’ biggest success being Juan Soto and their biggest failure being the starting rotation.
“No, Soto hasn't reinvented baseball during his first season as a Met, but he has been Juan Soto, and that has been a reminder of why he was so coveted,” wrote Doolittle on Tuesday. “Soto is having a down season in the average category thanks to the vagaries of BABIP, but everything is vintage Soto. And it feels as if we forget this part: He still hasn't turned 27. Soto has more seasons like this ahead of him, but he has some even better than this in his hip pocket. In any event, any concerns that Soto's huge contract would be his ruination ought to be alleviated by now.”
Soto, 26, has 40 home runs and 98 RBI while hitting .262 with a .921 OPS. He is one homer away from tying his career-high.
On the flip side, the starting rotation that was the best in baseball for a couple of months is now the biggest failure.
“The Mets' pitching free fall has been one of the most stunning stories of the season,” wrote Doolittle. “Through the end of July, the Mets had baseball's fifth-best rotation ERA (3.44). The starters ranked 27th in quality starts and 25th in innings, so they weren't going deep, but they were effective while out there. Since then, New York's starters have a 5.40 ERA (24th), further taxing a bullpen that has arguably been just as bad or worse. The avatar is Kodai Senga, who went from Cy Young candidate to minor leaguer in about six weeks. Maybe the rookie trio of Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat will save the day, but this is not how the Mets drew it up.”
New York has a huge opportunity to close in on San Diego in the NL Wild Card race over the next few games.